We often look past chain restaurants, assuming that they’re just more of the same. A huge menu reminiscent of 90s style restaurants with too much variety to ensure freshness. But a new chain from Toronto has graced us with their presence and it’s nothing like the chain restaurants you’re familiar with.

The Captain’s Boil (or, here in Montreal, à la 101, Le Festin du Capitaine) is a seafood restaurant that is definitely memorable. The restaurant has nautical décor, making you feel like you’re along for the ride, fishing for your meal. And what a meal it is.

The Captain’s Boil is Creole inspired Asian seafood, deliciously spicy with tons of flavour. They don’t grill, fry, or steam the seafood. They boil it in a broth filled with delicious seasonings.

First thing’s first: choose your seafood. You have the choice between crawfish, lobster, Dungeness crab, king crab legs, snow crab legs, clams, shrimp, mussels, or chicken. Next, choose your spicy level. Warning: the medium option is very spicy, and our mouths were on fire (FIRE!). If you have any aversion to spice, please go for mild. You can thank us later.

Next, pick your flavour. They have cajun, lemon pepper, garlic sauce, or Captain’s Boil (a mix of all 3 flavours). You can then add veggies to your seafood, like corn, okra, lotus roots, and more. Your orders come to you in plastic bags, and all that’s left is for you to dig in.

Delicious sides available are fried shrimp, Cajun seafood fried rice, cajun or regular fries (the cajun will make you sweat with its heat), and more. They even provide you with nifty scissors to cut through those lobster and crab shells. And what a difference! We’ll never go back to seafood crackers again!

Now, why did we say this restaurant was messy? Well, you gotta eat with your hands. They provide you with bibs and plastic gloves, and trust us, you need to use them. We even used a second pair of gloves because our first pair was so messy. This may not be the best for a first date. Or… maybe it is! You can weed out the squeamish potentials.

The Captain’s Boil is definitely great fun and the food is quite tasty too. We tried a variety of their seafood, which was deliciously fresh, and we loved it all. And we definitely loved getting messy. It’s an experience you won’t soon forget!